The House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1803 under suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. H.R. 1803 was introduced on March 31, 2009, by Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA).

H.R. 1803 authorizes $10 million in Fiscal Year 2011 and $12 million in Fiscal Year 2012 for the Small Business Administration (SBA) to create a Veterans Business Center program. These centers would provide veterans and their surviving spouses with entrepreneurial training and counseling. These Veterans Business Centers would receive initial grants of $150,000 annually for five years, after which time the centers could apply for three more years of funding. Additionally, the bill authorizes $1.5 million for the SBA to provide centers with $75,000 for capital grants, procurement assessment grants, and grants tailored to service-disabled veterans.

This legislation was earlier incorporated into H.R. 2352, which passed the House on May 20, 2009, by a vote of 406-15.  H.R. 1803 is now being considered as a stand-alone bill should the Senate not take up the larger small business bill.  Entrepreneurial development programs, facilitated by the SBA, have been developed over the past several decades and provide services such as counseling, educational training, and workshops for small businesses.  Additionally, the SBA currently administers five Veteran Business Outreach Centers.

A CBO cost estimate is not yet available for H.R. 1803.